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I would say that if you're not prepared to support your company's product in any reasonable way, you should look for another job anyway.

Well, for any large company, it's possible, indeed likely, that I may be immensely proud of the project I am working on, while simultaneously either being unaware or even actively disliking the product of another department of a company.

Ahh -- yes, I see, so I should write my Apps in Python, except where they need to be rewritten in C/C++ because that will run faster than when written in Python, but Python is not slow when you rewrite portions -- so don't rewrite in a faster language because Pyton is fast enough.

Alrighty then.

Essentially yes, that's it exactly. It's a lot simpler to write a 5000 lines of python and 300 lines of C than it is to write 20,000+ lines of C. Plus Python manages most of the memory management for you so you have less chance of memory leaks. I would argue that the reduction in bugs memory bugs and more maintainable code would justify saying that one should use two languages in this case. It's not a matter of which is better overall, it's that python is easier to read, whereas C is faster. Use both where their benefits are most powerful.

MahlonS writes "In November I asked Slashdot to offer suggestions on the best technology to upgrade WIFI service in a campground. I received several valuable nuggets of info. After the IT guy for the company failed to provide a complete solution, the campers revolted. I used your info to propose a solution, and I was hired to design, oversee installation and configure a better network. Things are now running smoothly.The IT guy installed 2 Ubiquity Bullets, one on the ISPs router, one 200' away, served by a pair of bridged Engenius 2611P. This covered about 25% of the park quite well. I added an Amped repeater at my site, about 800' away, which provided some service to my part of the park, but everything was still routed through one AP.After reviewing all the sites Slashdotters referred me to, I proposed a mesh network built on Open-Mesh. I added 2 more 2611P bridges for backhaul and installed 2 more Bullets at those locations (IT had those on hand) to cover most of the park while we evaluated the mesh. I built a 4 node mesh net, evaluated, and found it very workable. I added 8 more mesh nodes, replacing the Bullets with mesh gateways.This is now stabilized with over 100 users per day passing about 8 GB up and down.Part of my proposal included management tools which can be operated by non-technical campground staff. Since the Cloudtrax dashboard charts usage and provides the ability to block individual machines, staff can now control the network instead of just rebooting everything.Thanks to Slashdot for pointing me toward this solution!"

You not having a clue how to code JavaScript doesn't mean JavaScript is a bad language, merely that you are out of your depth with it and simply don't understand how it works.

I agree that javascript is too often spoken poorly of as a programming language, but having the addition operator not be commutative is just twitch inducing.
See the Wat video, or try
[] + {}
{} + []
in you're JS console.

Dry-erase whiteboards are amazing for this. In an average day at the office, I do far more doodling and scrawling on my giant whiteboard next to my desk than on the notepads lying around me....Easier to color-code, too.

I prefer a graph paper notebook. Easier to draw on (for me at least), guide lines for sketching, and I've got a log of every great idea all in one place, no worries of someone coming along and erasing it.

OTOH, Valve typically has been very amenable to fan material before. If Valve was approached as a production partner, with limited oversight over production, one might even be able to encourage them to chip in as a publicity event. Keep the same director, writing and special effects designer as the production leads, let some valve employees chip in additional writing and or settings/special effects.

the bigger question in my mind is "Is there enough plot to Portal to tell a full length movie?" for all that the game was amazing, the plot basically is, wake up, get tested, break free, kill GLaDOS, escape. Not a lot of room there for dialogue, plot twists, or character development. This clip worked on the basis of capturing the ambiance of the portal universe, the dystopia and the feel of relentless monotony. not sure that would work for a feature length film.

An anonymous reader writes "Michigan's Thomas M. Cooley Law School recently filed a lawsuit that appears to be boomeranging in the worst possible way. A little-noticed pseudonymous blogger respectfully disagreed with Cooley's self-awarded number-2 ranking, nationwide (well, perhaps no so respectfully), and had a few other choice things to say. So, Cooley went ahead and hired some lawyers who had graduated from Georgetown and the University of Michigan, to file a lawsuit to unmask the blogger. And EFF cooperating attorney John Hermann got involved. http://www.freep.com/article/20110806/NEWS06/108060378/Lawyer-says-Cooley-Law-School-s-suit-just-trying-silence-critical-bloggers Tech Dirt's Mike Masnick once coined the term "The Streisand Effect" to describe the phenomenon of SLAPP lawsuits that boomerang badly. Is "The Cooley Effect" an even better illustrative term?"Link to Original Source

nonprofiteer (1906180) writes "The News Corp iPad newspaper has a drone they've been using for news gathering — mainly flying it over disaster zones in N. Dakota and Alabama. However, FAA regulations on drones are mighty restrictive at the moment, and they're not to be used for commercial purposes (tho law enforcement is free to let them fly). FAA now examining Daily's use of its drone. Could set a precedent for how private businesses can use them."Link to Original Source

The point of the Economist's article is not that Patents are inherently completely useless. It is that patents, as they currently work, slow innovation. They point out that innovating individuals are no longer able to proceed with their inventions because they are being attacked with patent infringement lawsuits as soon as they prove they have a viable product.

One of the interesting points they bring up is the inherent fallacy in the "defensive patent". Since patents are by definition supposed to be given only for things which take unique insight to develop, if your opponent is infringing on your patent by accident, it did not take unique insight to develop it.

I guess my point is, the Economist is advocating Patent Reform, not abolishment of patents. While I am not associated with them, I believe they would likely advocate Copyright Reform, but not copyright abolishment.

He wasn't even an Eagle Scout at the time. He earned that later. Can you imagine if he was an Eagle Scout? I bet you he either would have figured out some awesome new method for nuclear power generation or would have died in the process as so many Eagle Scouts seem to do in the name of progress (Roger Chaffee, Ellison Onizuka, William McCool).

I Just had to comment, "William McCool" is a freaking awesome name. Any kid with a name like that will go places.